Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Surprise Inside Cake - Hidden Polka Dots from Bake Pop Pan

Find the tutorial on how to make an Ice Cream Cake with surprise inside polka dots as seen on KUTV Channel 2 here.

Will putting polka dots inside a cake work? How does one do that? I conducted a little experiment to find out.

Perhaps you've seen these in the store lately and walked right by them. Like I did. Countless times.

I kept asking myself, "Why in the world would I possibly need that when I can roll a perfectly round cake ball with my own two hands?" And then one night I had this great idea for an experiment. (I always call them great ideas until they fail miserably.) How about using them to put polka dots inside a cake? Rather large polka dots. But polka dots all the same.

After researching cake ball pans a bit, I settled on this brand. Mostly because makes 18 balls at once and my coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond were begging to be used. With tax and coupon, final cost was just over $16.

I started with a white cake mix and made some of the adjustments recommended in the instruction guide that came with the bake pop pan. After dividing the batter in half, I further divided half of the batter evenly between 6 bowls for tinting. The colors I used were AmeriColor soft gel pastes in 113 orange, 107 lemon yellow, 164 electric pink, 162 electric green, 103 sky blue, and a mix of 130 regal purple/165 electric purple. I used about 1/2 t. of each so that the colors would remain vivid after baking.

You can see the bright colors in the vents peeking through after the clamps were put on. The instruction guide suggests baking at 350F for 25-30 minutes but that sounded WAY too long. My goal was to slightly under bake them so that they wouldn't dry out too much during the second bake time. They were done at 13 minutes in my oven.

The instruction guide also suggests spraying some non-stick baking spray with flour on the outside of the vents. I failed to take their advice. I was sure that only filling them to the rim wouldn't cause eruptions. But I was WRONG. Mini volcanoes!

One of the happiest surprises of the day was that the volcanoes were more like little caps that popped off almost by themselves leaving the insides intact.

The mess on the outside was minimal after removing the tops with no damage to the balls.

The pans are non-stick but do require a baking spray with flour to help the balls bake evenly. Clean up was fairly easy.

After some quality control and taste testing of the volcanoes, the experiment resumed.

I also ended up trimming the tiniest bit off the tops to make them rounder.We'll see if that mattered later on.

The scraps.

After adding just enough batter to cover the bottom of my prepared pans, the cake balls were placed inside. My original plan was to freeze the balls before this step but I skipped it so they were room temp when they went in the pans.

The remaining batter was scooped over each ball to cover. And into the oven they went. Looking rather more like dinner rolls than cake. I didn't tap the pans or even the batter out for fear of uncovering the balls.

I ended up using 2 white cake mixes for 3 six-inch rounds. Long story. After trying to capture the steps on the camera, the half batch of batter that I'd hoped to use to cover the balls was getting weird. It had just set out too long. I baked it up in a small oval pan as a decoy for my husband to keep him away from the real project. Never a task for the faint of heart.

For the cake balls, I used the cake mix and pudding along with the substitution of milk for the water per the instruction guide. I did not decrease the liquid as suggested or increase the eggs but went instead with the amounts on the cake mix box.

Since I'd used whole eggs for the cake balls, the remaining half batch of batter had a yellow tinge. And there wasn't enough of it to cover the balls. Yet another reason to use a second cake mix.

The second mix was mixed using the egg white method and ingredients listed on the box except for about a teaspoon of almond extract. Force of habit. So I had a nice white batter to contrast with the bright colors.

The filled six-inch rounds baked about 30 to 35 minutes or until they pulled from the sides of the pan and sprang back when touched lightly. I didn't use the toothpick method for fear of stabbing a colored ball or hopefully soon-to-be-polka-dot since the balls were already cooked and not a true gauge of doneness.

Waiting for them to cool and frost was like waiting for my water to break with my first born. Okay. Maybe not quite that dramatic. But the anticipation was palpable in my kitchen. I know, I know. Get a life.

You can see some of the color coming through in spots. Never wanted to take a knife to a cake more badly in my life. But I waited.

Off to the freezer to chill out and wait until the next day for a crumb coat and slathering of white frosting.

The question mark seemed like a perfect accent to this cake since I still had no clue if this would work.

And then the giant cut to remove all doubt . . .

It actually worked!!! Hooray!

The first slice left this design. Not all dots showing but they're in there somewhere.

After cutting the second large piece, all but one color magically appeared. Perhaps placing one more ball in the pan would've produced a more even pattern. Next time.

Here's another great surprise about these types of cakes: the colored balls stayed as moist as the rest of the cake even though they were completely baked before hand!!! You'll want to try it yourself just to see but as long as you don't overcook the balls in the first bake, your cake will be moist all the way through. Gotta love science!

Mine is not the first attempt to hide patterns inside cakes. Hidden checkerboard designs have been around for centuries. The very first Battenburg or checkerboard cake was said to have been made in 1884 to celebrate the marriage Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenburg.

I can't wait to try more shapes and patterns! The next experiments will be to try smaller balls of different sizes for more of a confetti look. And squares. And . . .

I'll keep ya posted!

Note: This cake design is copyright protected so if you plan to use it for your own tutorial, video or other purpose, you must link back to this blog and give proper credit. No commercial use is allowed.

280 comments:

OMG, I love your post! you have such great sense of humor :) I just found your blog (through cake central) and I love, love, love it!! Thank you so very much for sharing how you did your amazing Polka Dot Cake!! :)

Thanks so much for your nice remarks!Elda: The cake pop (round balls) and mini donut pans can both be purchased online at Bed Bath and Beyond. Here are the links for both:http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/search/search.aspx/cake-pop-ball/?sstr=cake+pop+ball&grid=20&dim=1&nty=1&

Well I just love this idea, you are so clever for thinking of it! I tried it last night, and thought I'd let you know my outcome as it might help other people thinking of trying it.

I made the balls out of box mix to ensure they stayed moist as you advised. But the box mixes we can get here in NZ are not very nice, so so I used my favourite vanilla cake recipe for the main cake.

I think this is where I went wrong, maybe the difference in density was my enemy because the balls rose to the top in the oven, and wouldn't stay down! I tried poking them back down, but no joy. So the finished cake had partial balls poking out the top, which I had to carve off. Failure :( It still looked cute, but it didn't give the impact yours has, what a shame! So my lesson is that the cake the balls are made out of has to be the same as the main cake. If I had more time I would try baking the balls out of my regular recipe and soak the bejeezus out of them with simple syrup before baking. Hopefully I'll get another opportunity to try it one day, but it would have looked so cute in the Hungry Caterpillar cake I wanted it for.

Rachel: So sorry to hear that your 1st attempt didn't go as planned. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips so we can all learn together. Thank you for the compliments! Can't wait to try it again myself sometime soon.

mbranko24: The balls were buried inside the layer enough that I didn't even worry about it. You'd be able to see the color peeking through before you trimmed if you were trying to avoid them. Since they baked inside the second batter, there was enough white cake to level without running into a polka dot. Hope this helps. Can't wait to see your creation!

That would work too. I think you'll see I was kind of thinking along those same lines a while back. Hope you'll check back when I post my Fourth of July cake. I'm SO excited to finally share the surprise after keeping it quiet for so long. Thanks for looking!

I tried this for the fourth and made the same mistake as above, 2 different cake mixes with the same result. I also used red and blue (well, pink) balls but could only find the pink balls when we cut it. It was still cool and next time I think I will jam more balls for more dots! Great idea! This weekend will be devoted to the leopard cake. I don't want to pay for the tutorial, so I'll be experimenting

Rachel and Azhiker:I saw some photos of the balls baked by someone before they added them to the batter and I noticed that they were WAY more done than mine. This could be one of the reasons the balls aren't staying put. Please take a close look at the balls I did before I covered them with batter and you'll see that they weren't brown at all. Just done and springy to the touch. Adding moisture to the balls might help. So sorry to hear that your results weren't what you'd hoped for.On a brighter note, I've come up with a brand new method that will solve the problem of not being able to see the dots when the cake is cut. Stay tuned . . .

I am going to have to try this!! For my youngest daughters first birthday we are doing a ladybug theme! How cute would it be to do a red velvet cake with black polka dots inside!! Love it!Angel Rajewski

The colored candies on the outside are chewy Skittles in either Blenders or Tropical flavor I think. The frosting was all white buttercream, which isn't really buttercream at all since the butter is replaced with shortening. Thanks for looking!

Anonymous: for even cakes, I use fabric baking strips (like Magi-Cake or Wilton brand) soaked in water. If there is a slight dome when the cakes come out of the oven, covering the top of the warm cake with a damp paper towel and gently pressing on it or inverting it with even weight on top will compress and flatten the raised area with no need for trimming. Jessicakes prepared a post on this if you'd like to check it out: http://jessicakesblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/korean-birthday-cake.html

I'm so excited to try this cake for my little girl's 1st birthday. I've already bought the cake pop pans and done a test run...the cake pops came out ok, but I need to use the baking spray w/ flour next time. My question is this...HOW do you use the pudding mix with the cake mix? Is it already prepared pudding or JUST the powder mix?

Just made the cake pop cake! Ours did not come out quite as clean and neat as your photo..but not bad for a non baker-first-time- cake maker! I have photos but can't figure out how to attach on this blog.... It was fun...thanks for sharing the idea!!

Currently have one baking in a 8x3 pan. It's been in there for 40 min and it's stil very raw in the middle, also my cake balls rose to the top. Any suggestions? I have a second layer to make so I'm think I probably shouldn't put a full box of cake mix in and maybe they won't rise or take so long to bake.

I tried this for my son's birthday and I too had problems with the balls rising, I used the same cake mix for the balls and the main mixture. I only part cooked the balls and then froze them for 24 hrs before baking them into the main cake. I tried to push them down during cooking but the just sprung straight back. The cake was domed on the top, both layers, and I was reluctant to cut the top otherwise the effect would have been ruined. I packed up the middle part with extra icing to try to even it out...looked ok, not a professional job by any means but everyone loved it when we cut it open...big surprises :)

I absolutely love this idea! Absolutely hillarious!Just a few question! :)1. What exact white icing did you use?2. Did you freeze the cake before icing & to cool the cake down faster?3. What is the topping you used around the cake & to make the question mark?

I am wondering what the outcome would be if you used the large "dots" from the cake pop pan along with the tiny cylinders you later used with the donut pan version....

Could you maybe "layer" each 6" round by ~adding the initial bottom layer of batter~add the pre-baked large dots as you originally did, but also toss in some of the tiny cylinders~pour a very thin layer of batter~adding another "layer" of the tiny pieces~another very thin layer of batter~the rest of the tiny pieces ~finally topping it off with the rest of the batter... Or would all of the tiny pieces just sink to the bottom anyway?

I absolutely adore your idea and so badly want to attempt for my son's first birthday as we've chosen a bold colored polka dot theme from a party supply store. I'm just afraid my end creation won't be perfect (as I would want and MUST have) and I'd end up calling a local bakery and putting in a rush order! Maybe I'll just try a small version for his personal cake and make mini cupcakes for the guests. (I may cheat and use the confetti cake mix for added pops of color.)

I don't think the tiny pieces would sink. As long as they are surrounded by batter, they should stay where you place them. The only issue I can foresee is that the cylinders might look like stripes or lines depending on how you place them and how the cake is cut. If you use a loaf pan instead of a round, it would be really easy to predict the outcome and placement.

If you are looking for multi sized dots, perhaps you might try making the smaller balls using the crumbled cake crumb method for cake pops but leave out the frosting. If your crumbs are moist enough, they shouldn't need the added frosting to get them to form balls. For a little moistness, you could try adding some simple syrup to the crumbs before forming. A small scoop might help you get even sized portions.

Hi Trudy,Sorry to hear that you had problems. You must be really frustrated after two trys.

Since I haven't experienced this yet I can only offer some thoughts. You might try brushing your baked balls with simple syrup to rehydrate them a little if they are at all dry or overbaked. Also, make sure there is enough batter surrounding the balls so that they are weighted down by the batter. Did your balls actually rise or sink? It can be confusing since we sometimes flip our pans when cooling but perhaps the bottoms were really the tops. If this is the case, adding a bit more batter under the balls should fix it. I'll post any solutions to this as I find them. Happy Caking!

Amy - I think they are chewy Skittles in either Blenders or Tropical flavor. Sixlets would also work since they are about the same size. Just don't refrigerate the cake for too long after you apply them or the coating will start to dissolve and you'll end up with a muddy looking watered down chocolatey puddle and dull candies. Not so pretty. Just happened to me a few days ago with M&Ms. : (Happy Caking and hope you'll share some photos!

Not trying to be a tattle tale, but I just saw this on a page on Facebook. It's called Quaint Cakes from UK. your watermarks were cropped off. Give credit where credit is due! I kindly posted the link to our page for her followers to see. :).

I am absolutely going to try this and perhaps (if it's successful) I'll use my hearts cake pop tray and do a red velvet cake pop and place them into a white cake . I will let you know! Thank you so much for having the nerve and creativity to try this out for all of us out in virtual cakeland... <3

Would this work too if you wanted all your polka dots the same colour~bake a sheet cake and cut out rounds with a small cookie/patry cutter. I made mini-brownie towers one time, you get a lot from a sheet 9x13 pan. wondering if you thought that would work.....

Absolutely adorable. My daughter's bday is today, she pinned this cake and asked me to make it for her! I bought the cake pan and as fortune has it, the pans are on clearance at BB&B for $9.99 and used a 20% off coupon for a deal! Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Hello from the Texas coast! Thanks for the idea of a Polka Dot Cake. My daughter is pregnant and her sonogram is next week. We're having a reveal party and I'm making the cake. No one except me will know the sex of the baby, not even my daughter, until we have the reveal party that night with all the friends and family there. The out of town ones will be there via Skype. I plan on making this cake with either pink or blue polka dots in it. She will love it. Around the outside of it will be colored pink and blue circles of fondant with written on top "Boy or girl which will it be?" Love your sense of humor also. Thanks so much, in advance, for making our party next week be so much fun!

Hi! I am planning to make this for my little ones 1st birthday in a couple weeks. Would the balls work if I made them in a cake pop maker? (You know it is kind of like a waffle maker?) Also, The cake looks decent size in the pic but when I see a 6" cake pan, it looks pretty small. Just want to be sure how many people it would feed or if I could still make it work with more balls in bigger pans? I would greatly appreciate your ideas. Thanks!!

I teach culinary arts and am having my Baking & Pastry class help me test this idea out today. I have the kids use a cake mix for all of our cakes, however instead of 3 egg whites, we just use 2 whole eggs. The color really is not affected that much and you end up with a more moist cake. Trust me, we end up using up to 25 mixes a week to keep up with the demand for cupcakes and cake order on campus. Love the new idea! Thanks!

I love this. I did a polka dot theme for DD1's second birthday. Your cake has inspired me to do the same for DD2! I don't have that brand of cake pop pan and mine has no alterations listed for cake mix. Are you able to share those?? I would be forever grateful! You can e-mail me if that would be easier! kuparstwn@gmail.com

The pudding is instant. So sorry to be away for so long but we are in the middle of an out of state (or is it out of body experience?) move that is a taking way too long. Thanks so much for all of your enthusiasm and patience in the mean time.

I'll post the frosting recipe as soon as I am able to find it among the tunnels of boxes. If you want to look it up in the interim, it is Wilton's Snow White buttercream made with all shortening instead of butter. I also add a bit of almond extract to make it a little more interesting. Happy caking!!!

Do you think this would work in cupcakes and with a scratch recipe instead of boxed? I'm making cupcakes for a bridal shower and thought it might be cute to hide the wedding color inside of white on white.

Soo cute! Mine is in the oven now.....the anticipation is killing me! Yea we all need to get lives, but at least the silly thing we do puts smiles on other people's faces. This one is for my two grown daughter's birthday dinner. Yes at 27 and 29 they will be tickeld pink by this cake. Waiting....keeping fingers crossed still!

A friend posted this adorable cake on my Facebook page as a hint shortly before her birthday. I wasn't able to find a cake-pop pan, but I did find a Babycakes cake-pop baker (like a waffle iron, but makes spheres the size of golf balls), which cost more but was VERY quick and easy to use. I happen to have a Pampered Chef one-tablespoon scoop (like a mini icecream scoop), which made it easy to fill the depressions in the cake-pop baker. And the scratch recipe that came with the Babycakes baker was delicious and came out great.

The only disadvantage was that the bottom halves of the cake balls browned a little on the outsides. Because of this, I made chocolate cake batter instead of vanilla to camouflage it.

I also made the cake in a tube pan instead of layer pans, putting in about half an inch of batter, some balls, then covered the balls with some more batter, then added more balls, then covered those with batter. I frosted the outside with white buttercream and coated it with rainbow sugar crystals, then added some buttercream rosettes with pastel-coated chocolate eggs in the middle. Not as gorgeous and professional-looking as yours, but cute, and my friend loved it!

So, I'm sorry if this question has been asked, but you just place the cake pops in the baking pan and cover them lightly with the batter and pour the batter around the rest of the pan? And the batter just rises over the balls as it bakes? I LOVE this idea! It is so cute!!

You may want to check out this page on Facebook with a photo of your cake, did they ask permission?https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=554642251242648&set=pb.100805449959666.-2207520000.1363166250&type=3&theater

I'm just curious, i noticed one comment about the pudding but i didn't find it that clear. Do you mix the pudding as it reads on the directions and then just add it to one of the cake mixes for the balls? Does this make the cake balls more dense and perhaps people are skipping this step? Please explain as i am REALLY hoping to make this for my nieces 3rd birthday party next week! Love the idea! It's amazing!

I found your photos of this cake on an unrelated Facebook page. Your imprint is on the pictures, so I was able to track it back to you. I've left a note in their comment thread to let them know they shouldn't have posted it in Pinterest or on their Facebook thread without attribution to you and left a link to your page.

It's a beautiful cake. I look forward to coming back to see and try other of your recipes. Thanks.

I ran across a photo of your cake and clicking on the photo lead me to your blog. I made this cake for my boss' birthday this week and it looked great. I did have on problem though.....the cake balls floated once the batter started cooking. Any ideas on how to avoid that?

I have the same question many of the others had. When I pulled my cake pans out of the oven, they looked like they were covered in warts because the cake balls rose to the top. How do you prevent this?

So sorry to hear that your cake had warts. I have not experienced this so I'm not sure how to prevent it. Did you use pudding and milk in your cake balls as suggested on the cake pop pan? What cake mix did you use for the filler cake? Please let me know exactly what you used and your method. I'm going to have to do some experimenting to see if I can recreate this problem and then solve it. I also used cake strips on the outside of my pans to ensure even rising. Maybe that was the trick?

Please know that you are not alone and that we will get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, here is a link to another baker that tried my polka dot cake successfully but has lots of comments that discuss the same issue of the balls rising out of the batter: http://easybaked.net/2013/01/25/polka-dot-cake/

Perhaps another baker will discover the solution while I'm experimenting so you may want to check back with both sites. Please let me know what you used and how you baked them and maybe we can solve this mystery.

Your pictures were stolen and used on a facebook picture post by Live Laugh Love.

I remember being so taken by the bold colors of your cake balls, and when I saw the facebook picture, I thought "I've seen these colors before" Took me less than a minute to find this blog again. The pictures were posted on March 28th, and give credit to a Rosie Cake Diva.

I wanted to try this but didn't have a cake pop pan. I ended up making a butter cake and cooking it in various colours in a loaf tin. I cut the loaf into its separate colours and squashed the cake into balls. They stayed together quite well as it was a moist cake. I then put the balls in a light chocolate cake and it worked really well. Next time I'll be more careful about trimming the golden edges off the loaf, but by having the dense cake balls they stayed near the bottom of the cake - no floaters here!Thanks for the awesome idea!

Thanks for the tip Sarah! Now everyone can bake the cake even if they don't have the pan. Denser cake balls do seem to help with the floating problem. Now if we could just find the balance between sinking and floating. Story of my life. : )

If anyone is concerned about cake coloring there are lots of natural dye alternatives including some by India Tree. DIY colorings are also an option like beets and the like. I wouldn't let that stop me from making a colorful cake.

For those of you that have shown concern about my photos and idea being used improperly, sometimes there is a happy ending.

http://www.facebook.com/deborahstauchauthor?ref=hl

Deborah Stauch shared Rosie Cake-Diva's photo.2 hours agoSome of you have been contacting me to let me know that my photos were photo shopped into a collage with someone else's Polka Dot or Spotty cake. Thanks for your concern. Here's what really happened . . .Those of you who have followed my page for a while may remember me telling you that the original inspiration for my Spotty Dotty Cake came from a lovely blog by Deborah Stauch called Once-Upon-a-Pedestal. She is the genius that originally came up with the idea of the twice-baked cake and you'll find that and her other ideas here: http://once-upon-a-pedestal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/hidden-butterflies-inside-another-twice.htmlI've just been speaking to Deborah and she still has plans to publish a book at some point....so I'm definitely keeping one eye on her blog for that one! :)

As soon as I came across a pic of your awesome polka dot cake on Pinterest, I knew that I wanted to make it for my son's "Yo Gabba Gabba" themed birthday party! And let me tell you it worked pretty nicely thanks to your instructions and pictures!

Here are a couple of things I did different: I used the nordic ware cake pop pan, used totally from scratch cake mix for balls and cake and used 10x2 round cake pan.

Now for everyone who had problems with floating cake balls.. This is what I did to solve that problem for me! When I baked my first layer of the polka dot cake, to my dissapointment the cake balls did seem to "float" to the top of the cake while baking :( I did use a dense batter for the balls and followed the directions to the "t"-- so I was quite puzzled. So taking a tip from another comment on this page, while the cake was still warm from the oven, I pressed the dome of the cake down softly to make it as flat as I could. Worked like a charm!

Now for the 2nd layer, I was determined not to have floating cake balls! So I took that same from scratch dense cake batter and added another egg and reduced the quantity of milk by 1/2 (a tip found on the "as seen on TV" bake pop pan). Then when placing the balls in the cake pan, I spread a very small amount of frosting on the bottom of the cake pan. A barely there amount, just enough where the balls will be ever so slightly suspended in cake batter. Then, instead of spooning the leftover batter over the balls, I transferred the batter to a measuring cup (with a spout), and poured the batter around the balls to fill up all the empty spaces! After that, I spooned a tiny amount of batter over the tops of the balls; just barely enough to cover the color.

Long story short... I decided to pour the batter around the balls instead of spooning directly on top them thinking that as the raw cake batter bakes, it'll rise around and over the balls and envelope them like in a cocoon! And it came out great in my opinion. No floating cake balls!

I hope this long comment helps somebody and doesn't confuse them even more! I took lots of pics and will be posting them on the dedicated Facebook page in the next couple weeks!

Thanks so much for taking time to share the details. Just wanted to check one thing. You say, "I spread a very small amount of FROSTING on the bottom of the cake pan. A barely there amount," Did you mean batter instead of frosting? I've never baked frosting in a cake before so you've got me wondering.

Oh Nooo haha!!! Thank you for catching that! Definitely did NOT spread FROSTING on the bottom of the cake pan.. It was CAKE BATTER :) ... Hmm although maybe I've discovered the next big thing lol! I'll have to try that :)

I made a BROWNIE Cake Pop Cake. It turned out great! Instead of cake batter around the cake pops I used a Brownie Mix. I used one round cake pan and put the cake pops in then brownie mix batter around it. I made sure each cake pop was covered. My 14 year old son wanted a brownie cake for his birthday and he got one! I was excited at how well it turned out!

Brownie batter is an excellent choice. The dense batter insures that the balls won't float, the color contrast is great with bright colors and who doesn't love a moist chewy brownie? This is one of the batters suggested in my upcoming book. Would love to see some photos of you care to post them. Thanks for sharing!

Love this polka dot cake and really want to try it, only problem is I can't find any where that sells white cake mix, I can make a white cake mix but worried it will be too dry? Any tips? Thanks Claire

Fairly Odd Mother, thank you so much for this great idea! I used it for a 7yr olds Painting With a Twist Birthday Party...I don't make cake balls, but I do make cupcakes! I sliced and carved my cupcakes into odd shapes...I even baked a 'tie-dyed' 6" cake with the batter left from the dozen cupcakes (2 of ea color) and used a boba tea straw to extrude lines of color from the cake. The final result were geometric multi-colored shapes inside white cake! Perfection!! My white cake batter was MUCH thicker than yours but turned out moist and wonderful. I had no problems with anything floating to the top during baking. I did use a modified recipe for both the cupcakes and the white cake. I added a sm. box of vanilla pudding, 1 cup of sour cream, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup milk & 1/3 cup vegetable oil to a white cake mix. Make sure the cake mix does NOT have pudding already added. I used 3 of this recipe for a 9x13" pan (1 recipe for 12 cupcakes and 6" multi-color cake and 2 recipes for white cake surrounding colors).You're brilliant!!! I never would've figured this out for myself. Thank you a million for sharing your brilliance :)

Cheri: I'm certain you can pull it off no matter what your baking skill level. I did put the confetti scraps inside cupcakes but they'd be great as an outside garnish as well. I'm a sucker for happy colors. Thanks for stopping by!

Lynne:The gels can be found at Michaels and Walmart or any wher that carries cake supplies. Not sure if the grocery store carries them but they are offering a lot more cake decorating supplies these days.Thanks for stopping by and best of luck with your cake.

Lynne:Forgive me please. I am an airhead. Americolor gels can be found online or at a specialty cake shop but NOT at Michaels or Walmart as I previously posted. The cake colors at Michaels and Walmart should work just fine but you may have to mix the colors to get the ones in this polka dot cake. Sorry for the confusion.

Can you tell me the exact recipe you used for the balls? I am borrowing a cake pop pan from a friend and there is no instructions with it. I am confused about the part that says you used pudding and used water instead of milk as stated in the cake pop instructions. I am hoping to make this for Mothers Day. Thank you, Kim

Has anyone tried the babycakes cake pop maker? I can't get the pan here and this pop maker is a little bit of a pain. So I'm wondering...is it worth it? Should I keep trying? I want to make this awesome cake for my daughters third birthday so bad! Thanks and please let me know

One more question; the balls in the electric ball maker seem small. How big are the balls you make (in this cool pan that I cannot get me hands on)? Also will the cake work if I use bigger pans? Thank you for your time!!

The openings for the balls are 1.75" across. I haven't measured the electric pan so I'm not sure how they compare. I found several of the pans at Bed Bath and Beyond on clearance. Target also carries another version of the pans. Whatever you use will work out fine.

Hi Deborah! I just made a version of your polka dot cake for my daughter's birthday. Thanks so much for sharing...everyone loved it! If you want to take a peek-http://dimplesandtangles.blogspot.com/2013/05/rainbow-ruffle-polka-dot-confetti-cake.html

So sorry to hear that you are having problems. Denser batters work best like pound or madiera cakes. You can also try freezing the balls after they are baked. The damp paper towel method of flattening the tops as soon as they come out of the oven will press any floaters back down and give you a beautiful level layer. Also be sure you have batter both above and below the balls. Hope this helps. You can also read the comment by Jennifer Renesca on April 8th. And finally, here is a link to another baker that tried my polka dot cake successfully but has lots of comments that discuss the same issue of the balls rising out of the batter: http://easybaked.net/2013/01/25/polka-dot-cake/

This is such an awesome blog! I am looking to make a special cake for my boys birthdays but my challenge every year is to make a gluten free cake for my oldest. He is also allergic to red dye and any kind of chemicals. How could I make a colorful gluten free cake without using any artificial colorant. It would be awesome if you could give me a tip. It cost me about 75,00 to make his cake every year ( I did gluten free fire trucks, gluten free castle cake, now my baby is sharing the same birthday help please!

You know those little crispy pieces that are on top of the pan after they are baked? We call them "Cake Scoops!" You can scoop up icing with them, or pudding, or fruit, or a combination of any or all of those and they are so delicious! I always say that "Cake Scoops are a delicious byproduct of cake pops!"

Jazzangela: I only baked them for 13 minutes and watched them closely so they would just be done but not browned. You could try a lower oven temp or place a cookie sheet under the pan and on the rack above to temper the heat a bit. Happy Caking!

Hello! Thank you for sharing with us your recipe, I'll definitely try this at home, I was really looking for something new for my kids who always go to school and I really wanted to bring with them my home made recipe as their snacks because I don't want them to buy anywhere in canteen or outside the school. I have already copied it in my recipe notebook. Thank you so much for this and I'm looking forward for you more recipes to post.

Thankfully, I saw this post weeks ago and it's been stuck in my head the whole time. I could have easily gone to BB&B (which is right around the corner), instead I drove half an hour through traffic, uphill both ways, without tires...ok I exaggerate....to the cake supply store. Perusing the aisles, I found the most adorable mini cake pop silicone molds. I HAD to buy them. Since you'd mentioned looking for smaller ones, and you were so generous to share your post, I will also be generous and share the link :D

http://www.nycake.com/cakepopmoldmini.aspx

20 mini cake balls, non stick silicone, cheap cheap cheap?! How can you beat that! I have mine in the oven right now, so fingers crossed they turn out as super cute as yours did! I'm definitely keeping your blog bookmarked ;)

So sorry to hear that you are having problems with floating balls. Denser batters work best like pound or madiera cakes. You can also try freezing the balls after they are baked. The damp paper towel method of flattening the tops as soon as they come out of the oven will press any floaters back down and give you a beautiful level layer. Also be sure you have batter both above and below the balls. Hope this helps. You can also read the comment by Jennifer Renesca on April 8th. And finally, here is a link to another baker that tried my polka dot cake successfully but has lots of comments that discuss the same issue of the balls rising out of the batter: http://easybaked.net/2013/01/25/polka-dot-cake/

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